News Article

On May 15, 2017, State Energy Officials from Washington, Oklahoma, and Florida participated in an EESI-NASEO briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, intended to educate federal officials and private sector participants about the key role that states play in mitigating the impacts of and responding to energy supply disruptions – electricity, natural gas, and petroleum products – resulting from natural disasters, accidents, and man-made events such as cyber-attacks. Kelley Smith Burk (FL), Kylah McNabb (OK) and Michael Furze (WA) discussed the concept of energy assurance, as well as ways energy emergency mitigation actions, such as on-site power production at mission critical facilities, energy efficiency in the buildings sector, and fuel diversification for transportation. The officials described how their offices partner with other state and local agencies and the private sector to update response plans for emergencies and improve resiliency of energy systems and major end use sectors such as buildings and transportation. The briefing was co-hosted by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute and NASEO, and a recording can be found at: http://www.eesi.org/briefings/view/051517states.